Sho~Bud Professional Conversion

Jeff Hyman · From: West Virginia, USA

I have an old beautiful Sho~Bud "Professional". I am considering having the guts redone by Marrs. I know I will be changing the value by removing all those old parts underneath, but I do not play it anyway as I like the LDG undercarrage. Marrs website had some examples that were very impressive. Any feedback from anyone whos' had this done would be greatly appreciated.

------------------
Jeff Hyman
jeff@cactus.com
Sho~Bud LDG
WEBB and Fender Deluxe
www.HatCreekCountry.com
www.cactus.com

Scott Denniston · From: Hahns Peak, Colorado, USA

Hi Jeff- I sure enjoy mine. It's actually playable now. The action is smooth & accurate and it stays in tune. I don't see how doing this would lower the value at all in fact quite the reverse. They do a beautiful job refinishing too if you're interested in that. If you want to keep it all original I think they work on those too as does Ricky Davis.

Jeff Hyman · From: West Virginia, USA

Scott: Thanks for the feedback. Did Marrs do the complete $1500. job for you? What was your turn-around time?

Jeff

Scott Denniston · From: Hahns Peak, Colorado, USA

As I recall I sent it to Duane in February '04 and got it back in May '04. I know the time varies according to how backed up they are. If you call Duane he can probably give you a pretty good idea. I had the whole works done with refinishing and it was money very well spent. Sorry, I don't remember the amount but it was up there. Give him a call & he'll quote it. I fully recommend them for making an old Sho-Bud new again. Maybe even better.

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Jeff,all these guys are my friends,and don;t won;t to hurt no one,but when you say tear the guts out of old professional,makes my knees get weak!!man there are origional parts being made by JOHN COOP here on the forum,chrome plated nice origional stuff.do it all undercarriage make it brand new would be my sugestion. keep the tear drop knees ect. sorry if i offend anyone farris

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

I feel that I'm qualified to render an opinion on this being that I had the FIRST conversion that Duane and Jeff ever did. The parts on a Sho-Bud Professional will wear over time. Most of them are old enough now where they need a good going over for parts replacement. They were never a precisely accurate guitar to begin with and many of the originals had extreme cabinet drop. Still if they were maintained correctly they played all right. To me, there is no comparison in the accuracy of the mechanics for a Duane Marrs/ Jeff Surratt conversion to the newer bell crank system. After the conversion you can look on a tuning meter and see dead accuracy on all the pedal and knee lever stops. Also, Duane adds a body reinforcer to nearly eliminate all cabinet drop which alot of Sho-Buds were known for. I would consider Duane Marrs and Paul Franklin Sr. the absolute top living authorities on steel guitar mechanics. Duane Marrs knows every system out there and also worked at Sho-Bud for fourteen years of it's hey day. As far as value goes, I would absolutely consider a Marrs conversion for purchase over an old Sho-Bud original mechanics. The old system wears out and is noisy. The new system doesn't. By the way I sold my converted Professional for $3000.00. I say go for it.

[This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 06 June 2005 at 08:38 PM.]

Steve Hinson · From: Hendersonville Tn USA

My Marrs/Surratt Sho-Bud is absolutely the best playing/working steel guitar I have ever owned...their work is flawless!

Jeff Hyman · From: West Virginia, USA

All the feedback [public and private] I've gotten is greatly appreciated. I've got another question: Has anyone used John Coops teardrop knee-lever on a Marrs refinish job? Duanne says he uses 1/4 inch cut, and the teardrop only has 1/8 inch. Cutting out another 1/8 from the teardrop would not leave enough meat on that knee lever. Bottom line is I'd like to use a teardrop kneelever to keep the old look.

TIA,
Jeff

Scott Denniston · From: Hahns Peak, Colorado, USA

Jeff-- Duane & Jeff made me some very nice tear-drop curved levers to go on the conversion. It was a little extra (I think $20 more apiece) but I like them better too. I did have them put small fold-down flags or "paddles" on a couple of them so I could hit them easier but you can't really notice them viewed from the front. As I've stated before, this guitar plays much smoother (and quieter) than with the original Sho-Bud system. I must add though that it was previously poorly maintained and ignored. Really almost unplayable. Clunky!

Tony Rankin · From: Land O’ Lakes, FL

I own an LDG that was completely converted by Duane and Jeff. I couldn't say it any better than Kevin Hatton did.

I love mine and would also say go for it.

Steve Hinson · From: Hendersonville Tn USA

Here's mine...in Sullivan M0.Saturday night...

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Steve,its a beauty,and i know its got to have that sho-bud sound,but wouldn't the tear drop knees look so much nicer????
farris

Steve Hinson · From: Hendersonville Tn USA

Farris,I try not to let stuff like that bother me...

Calvin Brandenburg · From: Springfield, Ohio, USA

Jeff Hyman
I went and had my Sho_Bud re-done @ Marrs place and I met Duane & Jeff. Very professional guys. I was there on Thursday & went home on Friday. My Sho-Bud plays better than when it was new.
If you decide to do this you'll want to go at the same time because I asked Duane where he was playing. He told me and I was very surprised. I had dinner and listened to some great music. Duane plays GREAT too. I loved all that they do. I recommend them highly. I feel you can't go wrong. Hope this helps! Cavin B.

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Steve,your right,but John Coop now has bolt on tear drop knees to put on. Guess i;m just addicted to the tear drop knees.man when those tear drops hang down they look so cool.I had a pro1 fixed up by Duane and Jeff, i told them be sure and use the tear drops. and it looked so fine. Straights just don't look like sho-bud to me. farris

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

Can't you go the route that electric guitar collector/users do, and save all the old parts? I'm sure Duane/Jeff could tell you if they can do a modernization without routing wood, and how much they would charge to restore it back to original condition. That way, if originality became a major value modifier in resales in the coming years, you wouldn't have "trashed" a classic just for the selfish reason of wanting a guitar that works. <-(that's a joke, BTW)

There's probably thousands and thousands of intelligent, practical people cursed with owning '54 Strats with nice big shiny humbuckers at the bridge, and '59 Les Pauls all dug out for a Floyd Rose whammy bar. Who can tell?

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

David, if you knew anything about Sho-Bud steel guitars you would know that the original mechanics in the older Sho-Buds do not compare with modern mechanics, especially Duane Marrs mechanics. Duane Marrs BUILT those original guitars. Do you actually think that HE would have invented a quality conversion if it wasn't called for? There is no way that orginal Sho-Bud mechanics would be preferable either as value or practicality after someone haveing
seen and tried Duane's conversion. Much of the older Sho-Bud mechanics just flat out sucked for maintainability and reliability. Duane IS Mr. Sho-Bud. Do you actually think that someone like Doug Jernigan would have had his original Super Pro converted by Duane if he didn't think that it was a vast improvement? Who in their right mind would have original Sho-Bud mechanics put back in a Sho-Bud after a Duane Marrs conversion?

[This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 26 June 2005 at 06:28 PM.]

David Doggett · Posted 26 Jun 2005 7:22 pm

It's like if you got an old '32 or '40 Ford. Sure you could fix up the old flathead stock engine. And some collectors would value the complete stock model more. But nobody would ever really drive the car anywhere. Or you could put a more recent V8 in there with some high performance parts and have a street rod that you could drive around in with style.

On the other hand, if you got a '57 Chevy, you might just want to fix up the stock engine with some high performance parts. Are there any of the later Sho-Buds that had undercarriages worth fixing up and keeping, maybe late '70s Pro II or Pro III, or a Super Pro?

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